TEES – Spending Your Heart

Sydney dream-pop duo TEES have returned with a new video for their latest single Spending Your Heart. Once again working with their longtime visual collaborator and local film maker Daniel Havas, the clip is very much in the hyper stylised and wistfully romantic vein of their previous work together Everyone,Live It Up and Playground (all of which are worth watching).

Producer Sean Duarte drops a bass line that sounds fresh from an acid house cut circa ’92 on this track, driving things forward and setting the tone. Vocalist Liz Tillman however takes a much more waif-like approach to the vocals, setting it apart from the uplifting soul vocals of much of the 90s house the track’s production is referencing. The result is something that sits comfortably between the bedroom and the dancefloor, not to mention this humble reporter’s headphones.

The clip itself tells a love story between two rival ‘ball people’ whose bitter competition masks a hidden attraction. Stunningly shot and featuring on (break) point art direction from Sydney based New Zealand visual artist Mia Middleton, the clip is much more restrained in it’s aesthetic than groups last two clips.

That doesn’t mean it’s less engaging or exciting mind you, quite the opposite in fact. Where an acid drenched 90s palette may have made it too obvious and overbearing, the simplicity of the colours and emphasis on capturing movement makes for a moody and nuanced telling of the narrative.